Seating Arrangements to Consider for Your Event

One of the factors of success of any event is communication, whether if you are presenting a business or hosting a dinner. The speaker or host may have all the charm he or she needs to dazzle an audience, but they are only one part of communicating in events. One of the things to look into when planning special occasions is the seating arrangement; because the latter may have a positive or negative impact.

Events managers cite that hotel function rooms may have all the décor and equipment needed, but these seating arrangements may make or break your event.

Theatre Style

This is the simplest arrangement that a lot of event organisers use, this reflects the seating in cinemas or theatres with chairs in straight rows. The pros of this are that the seats are facing forward and in the direction of the front of a room. This also allows you to maximise the seating capacity of the venue you booked. However, this has cons which include no provision for taking notes or eating plated food, and you need to create aisles for accessing the seating area.

Classroom

This arrangement is much like in a lecture theatre or school, with trestle tables and chairs in straight rows. This style has similar benefits to the one mentioned previously as the seats face forward in the direction of the front of a function room. However, this allows for taking notes and plated food and beverage consumption. One of the disadvantages of this style is that it closes an audience in, making it difficult for them to enter or leave.

Herringbone

This seating arrangement is much like its classroom-style counterpart, but the rows of tables and chairs angle inwards. Some of the positives of this are that the seats are facing toward the podium and allow for eating, drinking and note taking.

These are just a handful of seating arrangement to consider when planning an event. The position of the tables and chairs play a major role in how speakers communicate and connect with their audience.